Portland/Vancouver Metro Baha'i Community

Public Awareness Campaign for Baha’i Prisoners

Posted: 07/06/09

The Beaverton Baha’i Community is sponsoring a public awareness campaign about the persecutions of the Baha’is in Iran on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm and Wednesdays from 3 pm to 6 pm, in front of the Beaverton Library. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness regarding the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran and to urge Oregonians to contact Senator Jeff Merkley about supporting S. Res. 71 (sponsored by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden). This resolution condemns the Iranian government’s persecution of Baha’is and calls for the immediate release of Baha’is currently imprisoned due to their religious beliefs.

The Bahá’í Community, which views all of humanity as one family and strives toward global peace, has suffered systematic persecution and its members have been denied basic human rights in Iran. Currently, there are seven Baha’i leaders in prison with their trial scheduled for July 11th. These women and men have been denied access to their lawyer, Nobel Prize winner Ms. Shirin Ebadi, and face the death sentence if found guilty of these erroneous charges.

For more information about the human rights violations, please visit Iran Press Watch. To read S. Res. 71, please go to http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=sr111-71. To learn more about the Baha’i Faith, please visit www.bahai.org.

The Baha’is are asking for volunteers. If you can help, please contact:

• Judith Auslander: shalom19@verizon.net
• Holly Catron: hollycatron@yahoo.com
• Kay Kelly: kay.kelly3@gmail.com or 503-848-7862

If you would like to contact Senator Merkley and urge him to support S. Res. 71, please go to Senator Merkley’s website: http://merkley.senate.gov/contact/. You are welcome to copy and paste the following message to Senator Merkley or write your own message.

Please support Senate Resolution 71

Dear Senator Merkley,

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the continued human rights violations of the Bahá’ís in Iran. In particular, seven leaders of the Bahá’í community have been imprisoned for a year without formal court charges or access to their lawyer, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms. Shirin Ebadi. These Bahá’ís have been falsely accused of “spreading corruption on earth,” which under Iranian law carries the threat of death. The Bahá’í community, which views all of humanity as one family and strives toward global peace, has suffered systematic persecution and denial of their basic human rights.

S. Res. 71 calls for the immediate release of the seven prisoners as well as all others being held solely on account of their religious beliefs. It also calls for the international community and the United States government to condemn the government of Iran’s continued violation of human rights.

I urgently request that you join Senator Wyden in supporting S. Res. 71.